A Colonel Blotto Game for Interdependence-Aware Cyber-Physical Systems Security in Smart Cities

Smart cities must integrate a number of interdependent cyber-physical systems that operate in a coordinated manner to improve the well-being of the city's residents. A cyber-physical system (CPS) is a system of computational elements controlling physical entities. Large-scale CPSs are more vulnerable to attacks due to the cyber-physical interdependencies that can lead to cascading failures which can have a significant detrimental effect on a city. In this paper, a novel approach is proposed for analyzing the problem of allocating security resources, such as firewalls and anti-malware, over the various cyber components of an interdependent CPS to protect the system against imminent attacks. The problem is formulated as a Colonel Blotto game in which the attacker seeks to allocate its resources to compromise the CPS, while the defender chooses how to distribute its resources to defend against potential attacks. To evaluate the effects of defense and attack, various CPS factors are considered including human-CPS interactions as well as physical and topological characteristics of a CPS such as flow and capacity of interconnections and minimum path algorithms. Results show that, for the case in which the attacker is not aware of the CPS interdependencies, the defender can have a higher payoff, compared to the case in which the attacker has complete information. The results also show that, in the case of more symmetric nodes, due to interdependencies, the defender achieves its highest payoff at the equilibrium compared to the case with independent, asymmetric nodes

Crossing the Cosmological Constant Line on a Warped DGP Brane

We study dynamics of the equation of state parameter for a dark energy component non-minimally coupled to induced gravity on a warped DGP brane. We show that there are appropriate domains of the model parameters space that account for crossing of the phantom divide line. This crossing, which is possible for both branches of the scenario, depends explicitly on the values of the non-minimal coupling and warp factor. The effect of warp factor appears in the value of the redshift parameter at which phantom divide line crossing occurs.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, revised version to appear in Prog. Theor. Phy

Return home after dysvascular major amputation of the lower limb:A multicentre observational study in the Netherlands

Objective: To report the rates of persons returning home within one year following dysvascular major amputation of the lower limb in the Netherlands, and to identify factors associated with returning home directly after hospital admission and after discharge to care facilities. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Patients: Dysvascular major amputation of the lower limb, n = 382, mean age 71.9 years (standard deviation (SD) 12.5 years), 65% male. Methods: Medical records of all persons undergoing major amputation of the lower limb in 2012–2013 in 12 hospitals in Northern Netherlands were reviewed. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Among persons admitted from home and surviving the hospital admission, 21% returned home, with higher odds of returning home being associated with living with a partner (OR = 2.8, p = 0.006) and younger age (< 65 years). Among those discharged to care and surviving the first year, 77% returned home within one year after amputation, with higher odds being associated with younger age (<75 years) and admission to inpatient rehabilitation (OR = 10.6, p = 0.004) or geriatric rehabilitation in skilled nursing facilities (OR = 3.5, p = 0.030). Conclusion: Four out of 5 persons surviving dysvascular major amputation of the lower limb return home within one year, although a majority requires care in either inpatient rehabilitation or a skilled nursing facilities setting

Immunization with Bivalent Flagellin Protects Mice against Fatal Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pneumonia

Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infections present a major challenge to healthcare systems worldwide because they are commonly associated with high morbidity and mortality. Here, we demonstrate the protective efficacy of type a and b flagellins (bivalent flagellin) against acute fatal pneumonia in mice. Mice immunized intranasally with a bivalent flagellin vaccine were challenged by different flagellated strains of P. aeruginosa in an acute pneumonia model. Besides the protective effect of the vaccine, we further measured the host innate and cellular immunity responses. The immunized mice in our study were protected against both strains. Remarkably, active immunization with type a or b flagellin significantly improved survival of mice against heterologous strain compared to flagellin a or b antisera. We also showed that after an intranasal challenge by P. aeruginosa strain, neutrophils are recruited to the airways of vaccinated mice, and that the bivalent flagellin vaccine was proved to be protective by the generated CD4+IL-17+ Th17 cells. In conclusion, bivalent flagellin vaccine can confer protection against different strains of P. aeruginosa in an acute pneumonia mouse model by eliciting effective cellular and humoral immune responses, including increased IL-17 production and improved opsonophagocytic killing

Mortality, Reamputation, and Preoperative Comorbidities in Patients Undergoing Dysvascular Lower Limb Amputation

Background: Historically, mortality rates after major lower limb amputations (LLAs) have been very high. However, there are inconsistencies regarding the risk factors. The reamputation rate after major LLAs is largely unknown. The aim of this study is to report the 30-day and 1-year mortality and 1-year reamputation rates after major LLA and to identify potential risk factors.Methods: An observational cohort study in which all patients undergoing dysvascular major LLA in 2012-2013 in 12 hospitals in the northern region of the Netherlands is included.Results: Of total 382 patients, who underwent major LLA, 65% were male and the mean age (standard deviation [SD]) was 71.9 +/- 12.5 years. Peripheral arterial disease was observed in 88% and diabetes mellitus (DM), in 56% of patients. No revascularization or prior LLA on the amputated side was observed among 26%, whereas 56% had no minor or major LLA on either limb before the study period. The 30-day and 1-year mortality rates were 14% and 34%, respectively. Patients aged 75-84 and &gt;85 years had 3-4 times higher odds of dying within 1 year. Transfemoral amputations (odds ratio [OR], 2.2), history of heart failure (OR, 2.3), myocardial infarction (OR, 1.7), hemodialysis (OR, 5.7), immunosuppressive medication (OR, 2.8), and guillotine amputations (OR, 5.1) were independently associated with 1-year mortality. Twenty-six percent underwent ipsilateral reamputation within 1 year, for which no risk factors were identified.Conclusions: The mortality rate in the first year after major LLA is high, particularly among those undergoing transfemoral amputations, which is likely to be indicative of more severe vascular disease. Higher mortality among the most elderly patients, those with more severe cardiac disease and who underwent hemodialysis reflects the frailty of this population. Interestingly, DM, revascularization history, and prior minor or major LLA were not associated with mortality rates.</p

A Three-Frequency Feed for Millimeter-Wave Radiometry

A three-frequency millimeter-wave feed horn was developed as part of an advanced component technology task that provides components necessary for higher-frequency radiometers to meet the needs of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. The primary objectives of SWOT are to characterize ocean sub-mesoscale processes on 10-km and larger scales in the global oceans, and to measure the global water storage in inland surface water bodies, including rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands. In this innovation, the feed provides three separate output ports in the 87-to- 97-GHz, 125-to-135-GHz, and 161-to-183- GHz bands; WR10 for the 90-GHz channel, WR8 for the 130-GHz channel, and WR5 for the 170-GHz channel. These ports are in turn connected to individual radiometer channels that will also demonstrate component technology including new PIN-diode switches and noise diodes for internal calibration integrated into each radiometer front end. For this application, a prime focus feed is required with an edge taper of approximately 20 dB at an illumination angle of 40 deg. A single polarization is provided in each band. Preliminary requirements called for a return loss of better than 15 dB, which is achieved across all three bands. Good pattern symmetry is also obtained throughout all three-frequency bands. This three-frequency broadband millimeter-wave feed also minimizes mass and provides a common focal point for all three millimeter-wave bands

Ruppeiner Geometry of Anyon Gas

We derive the thermodynamic curvature of a two dimensional ideal anyon gas of particles obeying fractional statistics. The statistical interactions of anyon gas can be attractive or repulsive. For attractive statistical interactions, thermodynamic curvature is positive and for repulsive statistical interactions, it is negative, which indicates a more stable anyon gas. There is a special case between the two where the thermodynamic curvature is zero. Small deviations from the classical limit will also be explored.Comment: 12 page

Quasi-Orthogonal Design and Performance Analysis of Amplify-And-Forward Relay Networks with Multiple-Antennas

This paper is on the design and performance analysis of practical distributed space-time codes for wireless relay networks with multiple antennas terminals. The amplify-andforward scheme is used in a way that each relay transmits a scaled version of the linear combination of the received symbols. We propose distributed generalized quasi-orthogonal space-time codes which are distributed among the source antennas and relays, and valid for any number of relays. Assuming M-PSK and M-QAM signals, we derive a formula for the symbol error probability of the investigated scheme over Rayleigh fading channels. For sufficiently large SNR, this paper derives closed-form average SER expression. The simplicity of the asymptotic results provides valuable insights into the performance of cooperative networks and suggests means of optimizing them. Our analytical results have been confirmed by simulation results, using full-rate full-diversity distributed codes

Variations in sturgeon populations in the coastal waters of the Caspian Sea (Guilan province)

The present study was conducted from autumn 2003 to summer 2005 with the objective to estimate distribution and relative abundance in different species of sturgeons as a function of seasons, and regions in the west coast of the Caspian Sea (Guilan province).Gillnets with a different mesh sizes (26, 33, 40, 60, 100, and 150 mm) were set up at different depths(2, 5, and 10 m) for 24 h. Data on variations in catch, catch per unit effort(CPUE) and length and age composition of sturgeon species were analyzed statistically. Data on CPUE in each region and depth and mean estimates of length and age in fish were reported for each season and each year of the study period. CPUE during 2004-2005 was 1.32 fish which was 30.1% lower than CPUE (1.89 fish) recorded in 2003-2004.CPUE for all species except A. nudiventris decreased during 2004-2005 as compared to that in 2003-2004. Acipenser persicus caught during 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 ranged from 15 to 45 cm in length and comprised 91.1 and 97.1% respectively of the total sturgeon catch. These fish belonged to the one year age class. Mean length recorded in sturgeon fish caught in 2004-2005 decreased as compared to that recorded in 2003-2004. Significant differences were recorded in total length of fish caught in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. Results obtained from the present study reveal that the abundance of fish increased from west to east indicating a direct relationship between the general currents found in the Caspian Sea and the higher density of nutrients in the eastern region